Alright I was thinking about the Labrot & Graham tour in Sept. and this question springs to mind:
Are they gonna keep the current Woodford Reserve once the "New Special" stuff comes out? I read somewhere that the current bottling was only created to foster Labrot & Graham brand recognition. Well it turned out that the current bottling was also very very good. I was just curious if they'd keep it, remove it (in which case I should start hoarding) or maybe just rename it (like Old Forester Special Reserve). Does anybody have a clue??

Tom (hoping it stays around) C

05-30-2002, 21:30

**DONOTDELETE**

Re: Woodford Reserve

Last year on the tour they said that they were definitely going to keep Woodford Reserve exactly as is. They will launch new labels for the pot stilled whiskey when they release it.

Linn Spencer

Have Shotglass. Will Travel.

05-31-2002, 07:42

cowdery

Re: Woodford Reserve

I have heard a couple of different stories from people in the know. Not duplicity, just them not quite sure yet what they are going to do. One line of thinking is to keep drawing Woodford Reserve from whiskey distilled at Early Times and bottle the L&G-made whiskey as one or more new brands. Another is to gradually add some of the L&G-made whiskey to Woodford. I suspect they must be getting close to doing something.

Chuck my best guess would be that with L&G having such a small daily output of only 20 barrels or so that any new brand would take the bulk of that production. What would slipping a few pot-stilled barrels into the Woodford Reserve batch selection actually do for the brand? At anyrate I'm sure we'll be able to find out more about it come September. Maybe we can arrange for Owsley Brown to drop by.

Linn Spencer

Have Shotglass. Will Travel.

05-31-2002, 12:55

Bob

Re: Woodford Reserve

Tom,
I too hope that they'll keep Woodford Reserve amongst their product line. Since my wife and I visited the distillery a few years ago, I've been looking forward to the release of their "New Special Stuff". Initially, it was to have been released by now, and I was informed that it was felt it was not yet ready. Does anyone know when they are planning to release it? Also, enjoy your visit!
Bob

05-31-2002, 14:13

MurphyDawg

Re: Woodford Reserve

I get the feeling that the new stuff will be released initially sometime around when us Bourbonites [sic?] make our pilgrimage (during Bourbon Festival 2002 of thereabouts), though I am not an insider and don't know definatively. Anyone else got info on this??

TomC

05-31-2002, 14:19

MurphyDawg

Re: Woodford Reserve

If anything, Wouldnt that be a bad thing. One of the few things I have learned to hold true in life is "Don't fuck with a good thing!" (my example being NEW COKE). Wouldn't adding pot still barrels, as good as they may be, potentially ruin the flavor profile of the WR we all know and love?? I hope the just name the new stuff differently and keep WR the way it is!

TomC

05-31-2002, 17:02

**DONOTDELETE**

Re: Woodford Reserve

The thing is Tom is that we don't know what their mashbill(s) are or what kind of chracter their yeast strain(s) may have.That remains to be tasted. What I can tell you is that the rock walled rickhouses in the hollow of Glenn's Creek in Woodford County are going to be slow agers. Very much unlike the metal clad rickhouses on top of a hillside like Wild Turkey. The location and type of rickhouse does make a differance in the character of the whiskey.

As we can taste in Woodford Reserve that the barrels of "Old Forester' that are selected for aging at L&G are very special indeed.

Will the pot-stilled bourbon aged in it's entirity in the stone rickhouses on Glenn's Creek produce the very best bourbon ever tasted by mankind?

I SURE HOPE SO!

And so does Owsley Brown and Lincoln Henderson. They are doing all they can to bring us delicious bourbons to drink and make a reasonable profit all at the same time.

That's not too much to ask is it?

Pants Away!

Linn Spencer

Have Shotglass. Will Travel.

05-31-2002, 17:08

MurphyDawg

Re: Woodford Reserve

i figure thats easy for us to say! LOL

i wonder what the pot stilled stuff will go for $$$$$ wise, are we shooting for super-super premium Blanton's cash flow, or like woodfords level, hmmmmm i guess we will have to wait & see. . . . .

Let's see -> Brown-Forman put 7 to 8 million dollars into resurecting L&G plus wages and taxes for six years with no positive cash flow. It's going to take them a goooooood long while just to break even, but I think the fifty dollar a bottle price range is going to be about right. So it had better be damn good.